5 reasons for schools to look forward to iOS 9.3

Posted on
February 23, 2016 by
Oliver Marshall

Apples iOS 9.3 is around the corner and if you are lucky you can already get your hands on a beta version to test on your Apple iPad. Although there are a number of great additions in iOS 9.3 perhaps some of the most eagerly awaited are focus on the educational sector where Apple iPads are pretty much the norm.

Managing Apple iPads in the educational sector has always been a bit challenging with most establishments turning to a range of 3rd party apps. Apple hope to streamline the whole affair with a number of key improvements which either complement, or entirely replace, a number of the common 3rd party tool in use today.

So, here’s just a short list of some of the amazing features your school should be excited about. For a full list of iOS 9.3 features you can visit the Apple preview page.

1. Intelligent Caching

For students who use the same assigned iPad in a class each day, starting a lesson is hassle-free. Thanks to intelligent caching, when students log in they don’t have to wait for everything to download — it’s already there.

2. Pin code access

Even students in lower years will find it easy to use Shared iPad. To log in, they just enter a simpler four-digit PIN on the Lock screen.

3. Classroom App

Easily one of my favourite new features. With Classroom, you can launch everyone’s apps at the same time, then guide what students are looking at on their devices. So teachers can have control of their classrooms and ensure that kids are focused on the lesson in hand.

4. Apple School Manager

Managing all those iPads has always been an issue, and so has managing the Apple IDs that go with them. With Classroom, Apple will provide you with one central place for admins to create Apple IDs, build courses, and access everything you need to deploy iPad in your school. All from the web browser on your Mac or PC.

5. Managed Apple IDs

Apple School Manager offers something completely new: Managed Apple IDs. Like any Apple ID, they allow you to store documents in iCloud, enrol in iTunes U courses and more. But Managed Apple IDs are designed just for schools, so you can easily reset passwords, audit accounts, create IDs in bulk, and create customised roles for everyone in the school.

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Author

Oliver works as Head of Sales at a leading provider of IT services to the education sector. Out of hours he's a runner with a limp, has a board game addiction and a owns a dog that looks like a badger.